http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-26260500 Why haven't we got any representing the 1st white player to play for a club?
I presume there were 22 first white players to play football so who would you pick? The first black player to play is about 30 years after the FA was founded, hence the tribute.
no. you're right though, they probably should have been more specific. what it probably should have done, is been less diplomatic "to honour the first black man to endure a professional football career in south yorkshire, between 1888 and 1902, at a time when he will have been subject to daily racist abuse and discrimination. not just from his community, but also from the vast majority of his fellow players and almost undoubtedly everyone in the crowd. but it will have all been considered 'playful banter', so what's everyone getting so worked up about. well done arthur" that woulda probably made more sense, to be fair
If you are genuinely asking this question then you're a bit thick, a bit racist or a bit of both. It's because white people didn't endure centuries of subjugation, and a white man playing football doesn't represent a milestone on the long path to a racially tolerant society.
No, Wharton is recognised as a pioneer. The first white men to play what would become Association football as we know it, were snot-nosed English public school boys. Sheffield School being the first to forge any recognisable rules of the game. It makes Wharton's achievement even more note-worthy.